Child Hero
by FemaleChauvinist
Summary: When the mother of her best friend has an accident, six-year-old Nessie has to get help while avoiding her bloodlust…or giving herself away.


**Disclaimer:** While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle and other medical personnel are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Recognizable characters and plotlines are the property of Stephenie Meyer; all original characters and story © 2017 FemaleChauvinist.

 _Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety._

 **A/N: The date of this story is correct for my alternate history, as described in my profile. Barbie**

 _Winter 2007_

 _Nessie one A/E six, claiming six, first grade_

 **Mrs Joyner**

Allasyn was playing up in her room with her best friend Nessie, and I was slicing bagels to make bagel pizzas as a treat for lunch. Allasyn loved the chewy bagels covered with sauce and cheese, baked until the cheese melted. I hoped Nessie would like them too, though I couldn't think of any kid who didn't love pizza in any shape or form. I had made brownies for them for dessert, with thick fudgy icing and nuts sprinkled over the top.

Maybe I wasn't being careful enough. The bagel twisted, and I cried out as the knife slipped and cut deeply into my wrist. I stared in horror at the red blood pulsing out; clamping the fingers of my other hand over it did little to stop the flow. "Ally!" I half screamed.

I heard two pairs of feet pounding down the stairs; thank God Allasyn had come the first time she was called for once.

"Mommy!" she cried, skidding to a stop in the doorway.

"Ally," I gasped. "Call 911."

She only stood frozen, her hands clasped over her mouth.

Nessie pushed past her, hesitating in the doorway for a moment, her eyes wide and dark. Then she was running to my side, grabbing the towel from its hook and forcing my right hand away to press the thick cloth to my cut with far more strength than I would have expected from her tiny fingers.

"Lie down," she ordered.

I was only too glad to do so; my head was already beginning to swirl. Nessie was breathing funny…or was that me? Dimly I saw her fish a cell phone out of her pocket, and then blackness washed over me.

 **oOo**

 **Nessie**

Allasyn and I lay sprawled across her bed, looking through a magazine. We were giggling over the cartoon drawings when Mrs Joyner cried out below us. Allasyn looked up but didn't seem concerned. Then Mrs Joyner screamed. "Ally!" There was pure fear in her voice; even Allasyn heard it. We were scared to know what had happened, but even more scared _not_ to, so we jumped up and ran down the stairs.

Allasyn reached the kitchen just ahead of me — I wasn't sure how much I needed to hold back — and stopped in the doorway. "Mommy!"

"Ally. Call 911."

Allasyn stood frozen, and I pushed past her. I felt my eyes dilate as the scent of blood filled my nostrils, and for a moment it was all I could focus on…all I wanted.

Then I clenched my fists at my sides. _**No**_ _, Renesmée, you're a_ _ **Cullen**_ _!_ I _didn't_ kill humans, especially not my best friend's mother. It was a rule so basic Daddy never even reminded me of it.

In a bare second I had regained control and run to Mrs Joyner's side. Blood was pumping out between her fingers and running down her arm — _Don't_ _ **think**_ _about it, Nessie!_ It was a good thing Daddy'd taken me hunting last night; if the blood was this tempting when I _wasn't_ thirsty… I took shallow breaths through my mouth, wishing I didn't have to breathe at all.

I grabbed a towel off the drawer handle and shoved Mrs Joyner's hand aside to press it against the cut as hard as I could. I'd looked at a first aid book in Grandpa's office once; it was fascinating, all the different ways humans could hurt themselves. "Lie down," I ordered, my tone of voice surprising even myself.

Mrs Joyner sank to the floor, half fainting. I elevated her arm on my legs, trying to keep the pressure on it with one hand as I dug in my pocket for my phone — I wished Allasyn would snap out of it enough to at least call for help!

I flipped the phone open and hit the numbers with my thumb.

"Nine-one-one; what is the nature of your emergency?"

"I'm at my best friend's house; her mother just cut herself really bad. I have pressure on the wound, but it's still bleeding and I'm not sure she's conscious."

"Is she breathing?"

"Yes."

"What's the address?"

I reeled off Allasyn's address, and the woman promised to send help. I tossed the phone aside and concentrated on pressing the towel to the wound, trying not to think about the blood that now seemed to be everywhere.

"Allasyn!" I half snarled when the pounding came at the front door. "Go open the door, _now_!" No human could have disobeyed me.

Allasyn came unfrozen and ran to the door, though she was so upset they pounded again before she could get it open.

One policeman stayed to comfort Allasyn, but the other ran through the house, finding me in the kitchen.

He stopped short when he saw me. "Who called?" he demanded, dropping to his knees and reaching for Mrs Joyner's arm.

"I did."

" _You_? Operator thought the caller was at least sixteen…look, kid, you have to let me see that cut."

"Don't let up the pressure," I warned, reluctant to hand things over to him; he looked like a strong man, but not as big as my Uncle Emmett, and I knew I was stronger.

He laughed. "Look, kid, I know what I'm doing. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Nessie," I whispered, curling my arms around my legs. I closed my eyes, not that that helped; I could still _smell_ it.

He glanced sideways at me. "You all right, Nessie?"

"Yes," I whispered. "The blood…"

He snorted softly. "Glad you waited until now to get squeamish."

I began counting backwards from a thousand in time to my heartbeats; I was back to nine hundred seventy-five when the ambulance arrived and the EMTs ran into the house.

I answered the police officer's questions as they loaded Mrs Joyner onto a stretcher, giving them her name and explaining that her husband was out of town for the day.

As they loaded her into the ambulance, I heard one of them tell the other to call and make sure Dr Cullen was free; Mrs Joyner would need a surgeon's skill. Pride welled up that it was _my grandpa_ who was so important.

My police officer led me out to the other room where the other officer held Allasyn in his arms. "What're we gonna do with these kids, Paul?"

He shrugged, shifting Allasyn on his shoulder. "Take 'em back to the station, I guess; can't leave 'em alone here."

My officer glanced down at me fondly. "I don't know…this one might be all right."

"I could call my parents to pick me up," I offered. "They could watch Allasyn, too."

"Sure, kid."

I reached for my phone, then remembered it was on the floor in the kitchen. I held my breath as I ran back to get it; the blood on my dress was at least starting to dry and didn't smell so strong.

"My uncle's coming," I said when I got off the phone with Daddy. "He said he'd stay here with us."

He arrived in five minutes, hurrying into the house. "Nessie?"

 _I'm okay, Daddy._

He looked hard at me, nodded, then turned to take Allasyn from the officer. "Here, sweetheart; it's all right," he crooned. "Carlisle's on duty at the hospital; he'll have your mother fixed up in no time."

My officer eyed him dubiously. "Sure you're all right with these kids? When Ness said her uncle was coming, we expected someone…older."

"Sure, I can handle it; I watch Nessie all the time."

"Well…all right. Ness said Ally's father would be back by five, so it's just the afternoon…" He glanced down as his radio squawked something even my half-vampire ears couldn't make out.

"Well, we've gotta go. By the way, great job, squirt." He tugged one of my curls and disappeared.

"Nessie," Daddy said quietly, "go up to Allasyn's room and change into something of hers; you're covered in blood. And see if you can wash out your hair a little."

I looked at him, wide-eyed, and he smiled a little. "I'm fine, sweetheart; it's you I'm thinking of. Go on now."

I turned and ran up the stairs. Of course, I knew Daddy would never bite me, even if I was covered in blood, but that didn't mean I had to make it any harder for him.

I washed my hands first and then opened Allasyn's dresser to pick out something to wear. She was bigger than I was (I looked six now, but still a little small for my age), so I chose pants that had a belt. I undressed in the bathroom, and wet a washcloth to clean off the blood that had soaked through to my skin. I found Allasyn's shampoo and knelt on the toilet to lean over the sink, washing the sticky, drying blood out of my hair. Finally I sniffed a strand and smelled mostly the shampoo.

I squeezed out what water I could and then pulled on Allasyn's clothes. I hoped she wouldn't mind me borrowing them…

Bunching up my dress with the bloody part on the inside, I ran down the stairs.

Daddy had been cleaning up; the sharp scent of bleach in the kitchen stung my nose and made me want to sneeze. But I was grateful for it; it covered up any blood-scent that was left.

 _What should I do with my dress, Daddy?_

"Just throw it out; you'll outgrow it too fast for it to be worth trying to clean."

I hesitated. He was right; in another week or two the dress would be too small for me — but it was one of my favorites. Quickly I unfolded it and twisted the buttons off before stuffing it in the garbage. If I asked her, Aunt Alice could make me another dress exactly the same, but a little bigger.

The blood in the ridges of the buttons was still moist, and I sucked each button clean before dropping the handful in my pocket.

I heard Daddy sigh. "Renesmée."

 _What, Daddy?_ I asked innocently. _No one saw me._ Then I bit my lip. _But, Daddy…I wasn't acting like a six-year-old…_

Not that I had to _act_ like a six-year-old; most of the time I really felt like one. It had been easy to think of what I needed to do, but it hadn't felt _natural_. The girl who had taken charge and done just what she had to wasn't Nessie Cullen; even I had hardly recognized her.

The six-year-old, running to her father's outstretched arms and laying her head on his shoulder — _that_ was me. _Did I expose us, Daddy?_

"No, baby, of course not," he murmured. "The humans aren't even suspicious. They think you're just a very intelligent little girl — and I'm not arguing with them there. And you aren't the only child to react better to an emergency than some adults. You should ask Momma to show you some of her newspaper snippets about child heroes — some of them have been even younger than you."

I giggled. _Younger than a year, Daddy?_

He tweaked my nose. "Apparent age, Nessie," he said dryly. "And by the way…besides everything else, I'm very proud of you for resisting the scent of the blood."

I shrugged. _I couldn't kill Allasyn's mother, Daddy._

"True. But I know it wasn't easy for you. Trust me, if Alice could 'see' you, I would never have let you be exposed to that."

 _Wouldn't you, Daddy? If Aunt Alice had 'seen' that she would have died if I wasn't here?_

"We could have saved her some other way, Nessie — it didn't have to be you."

 _But it wasn't as bad for me, Daddy — because I'm not full vampire._

Daddy groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Don't start torturing yourself to save us pain, Renesmée. That's a father's job, not a child's. I'm supposed to protect you, not the other way around."

 _Okay, Daddy._ I felt very safe and protected in his arms.

 **oOo**

 **Mrs Joyner**

I blinked my eyes open slowly, for a moment not recognizing where I was.

"Mrs Joyner?"

The smooth voice was somehow familiar, yet I couldn't quite place it. "Who…?"

"It's Dr Cullen," he told me softly.

Yes…Nessie's father…Nessie… "Allasyn!"

"Easy; just lie still. Edward's staying with Allasyn; she's fine. You really did a number on yourself, but I'm almost finished here."

"How many stitches?"

"Twenty-five. You know, I've seen suicide attempts that weren't as deep," he commented lightly, wrapping a bandage around my wrist.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned, shining a penlight in my eyes.

"A little lightheaded…but I want to go home."

"Well, I think I can release you," he assured me. "I'll call Edward to come pick you up…in the meantime, can you fill in the missing information on this form? I can get a nurse to write it in for you if you don't feel up to it."

I blinked at the page. "Allasyn gave them this information?" I hadn't realized she even knew some of it, let alone be able to remember it in an emergency.

He chuckled. "Actually, I think Nessie did. I'll go call Edward and be right back."

When he returned he signed my discharge papers and wrote something on a prescription pad, looking up as Edward appeared in the doorway.

"I brought some of your clothes over," Edward offered, "considering the state of Nessie's…"

"Where's Allasyn?" I demanded.

"With Bella and Nessie back at your house," he assured me quickly. "Relax; I wouldn't leave her alone."

They left me with the nurse to help me change into the clothes Edward had brought, and then she helped me into a wheelchair and rolled me out to where Dr Cullen and Edward were waiting.

"Keep her quiet, and make sure she drinks plenty of fluids," the doctor was telling Edward; "I had to transfuse two units of blood."

He raised an eyebrow. "Only two? I could have sworn there was a pint just on Nessie's dress."

Dr Cullen chuckled and handed him some slips of paper. "Here are her prescriptions for painkiller and an antibiotic; you can have Bella get them filled. Mrs Joyner, I'll want to see you in the next two or three days; I'll have the receptionist call to make an appointment."

"Thank you."

"Take care of her, Edward."

"Will do," he replied, grabbing the handles of my chair.

The front seat of his car was reclined, and he lifted me in before I could protest. "I'll just run this wheelchair inside and be right back."

"Thank you for watching Allasyn," I said as he got back in the car.

He frowned slightly. "She's a little traumatized from seeing you bleeding like that…I don't think she realized parents _could_ get hurt. Hopefully seeing you will be enough; if not Carlisle may have to come by and give her a sedative."

"Honestly, Edward," I murmured, "you're sixteen going on a hundred and sixteen."

He gave a snort of laughter. "Call it a hundred and six, and maybe I'll agree."

He wrapped his arm around me as we walked into the house, supporting most of my weight.

"Mommy!" Allasyn cried out, running towards me.

Edward reached out a hand, catching her shoulder before she could barrel into me. "Easy, Allasyn; Mommy's fine, but she's still feeling a little weak."

"Mommy!" Allasyn said again, pressing herself against me as Edward released her.

"Shh, Ally," I murmured. "I'm fine." A little lightheaded, but fine.

"Let's get you lying down," Edward murmured. Bella came forward to gently pull Allasyn away from me, and Edward lifted me to carry me to the sofa. "Do you want a blanket?"

"No, thanks." It was then that I saw her, standing almost shyly in the doorway to the kitchen. "Nessie," I breathed, holding out my hand.

A smile spread across her face, and she ran to my side. I pulled her close, tears stinging my eyes. "Thank you," I breathed into her hair; my little hero.

The End

 _I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!_

 _Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Twilight alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie_


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